Pineapple...what do you do with that core?

Today I was chopping up a pineapple to eat with dinner tonight, and of course the last part on the cutting board is the core. I always compost or toss it. But today I was thinking about eating it. The texture was more woody than the rest of the fruit, but it tasted good, and so I googled it. And one rabbit trail led down another, so you will have a full google hunt ahead of you in this article.

In addition to just eating the core as is, some people use it for a natural skin exfoliating treatment, which I could see, because those enzymes that make your tongue feel funny after too much pineapple make a gentle peel for your face. It turns out there are lot of benefits to fresh pineapple, so those are going on my grocery list for the whole summer. The more nutrition we can pack into our sweet summer snacks the better!

Many people use the core as part of a marinade to tenderize meat. Some use it in smoothies, and some freeze it whole to add to a jug of juice. Here was an interesting article with a bunch of ideas.

After some digging I decided on the easiest thing. I chopped it up into thin coins, and am freezing them separately on parchment paper so they can be used individually. I'll use them in smoothies, maybe puree them to add to a sweet and sour chicken recipe, or as ice cubes in an iced fruit tea.

What do you do with your pineapple cores?

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